One paper that caught the eye of Dr. Thomas Botzman, professor of economics and business administration and associate dean, was so exemplary that he encouraged the writer, senior Carla Conant, to enter it in the Undergraduate Economic Student Paper Contest and Conference.

Conant's Tobacco in Developing Nations: Benefit or Burden?, written for EC 375W Development and Economics, writing intensive, did very well at the contest and conference. It placed first in the macroeconomics category out of six finalists for the award.

"It was not only well written, but very good in the way it looked at an economic issue from the different angles and theories we talked about in class," Botzman said.

Conant, as Botzman described, "is probably one of the best writers the college has ever seen in regards to business and economics students."

A double major in Spanish and International Business and Economics, Conant said the competition was a very positive experience.

"I thought it was very interesting to get together and listen to the other people talk about their papers, as well as see their level of writing and how it compared to mine," Conant said, who presented her research on how the tobacco industry helps third world countries by bringing jobs, but hurts them by increasing total health care costs.

"The quality of the other papers was very high and I wasn't certain mine would be the best," Conant, a senior from Akron, said. "I thought that everybody did a good job."

After Conant graduates in May, she hopes to travel and is currently looking into a job in international sales and marketing.

As a student, she has also been involved in the Psi Kappa Omega all-college academic honorary, the Alpha Chi Omega sorority, the Gamma Sigma Alpha all-Greek academic honorary and has been awarded the Robert E. Hillier Family Scholarship for economics.